Personality
During his childhood Riku was, so to speak, “King of the Island” seeing as he was the strongest and second oldest in the group. As such, he quickly developed an attitude to match his status. Someone who didn’t know Riku all that well back then would have described him as egotistical, or even a jerk, because that was usually the first impression that people got of him. However, the truth of the matter was that Riku was just a confident kid, insanely loyal to his friends with an irrepressible sense of humor.
Even after all that’s happened, Riku hasn’t changed all that much.
His brimming confidence has been dampened slightly with maturity and experience, but it mostly remains unchanged. While his confidence took a hit when Sora defeated him back in Hollow Bastion, he rebuilt and strengthened it as he progressed through the floors of Castle Oblivion. By the time he emerged from the castle he felt unstoppable, his ego completely in tact and a confident gleam in his eye. He was speaking in that sarcastic drawl of his, every word and movement he made challenging anyone who thought themselves to be on his level. It was this confidence that allowed him to help Sora so much, because without it he wouldn’t have had the strength to convince Xion that reuniting with Sora was right. Even his yielding to Ansem was a result of his confidence. Roxas dealt a blow to his pride by defeating him, and if he had even one shred of doubt within him, Riku wouldn’t have opened that final gate within himself, he would have retreated and tried again later. Instead, his confidence in his own abilities and his heart allowed him to make that final sacrifice. So while he is no longer challenging people left and right, flexing his muscles in front of weaker individuals, or boasting about his own fighting skill and good looks, the confidence is still there, just focused differently. However, that’s not to say that he doesn’t still have slightly childish tendencies. If he’s challenged to a fight or called a coward, he’ll bristle just as normal and draw his weapon, demanding a fight. Even indirect challenges (such as given an easy out compared to a harder path) will appeal to that confidence of his. Riku will never take the easier path, instead welcoming any and all challenges.
Riku’s loyalty also remains as the basis of his personality. His friends have always meant everything to him, ever since he was a kid. They were the people that were there for him his entire life, the people that made him happy, and as a result he would do anything for them. Anything. The ironic and painful thing about Riku’s unshakable mindset is that this blind loyalty actually led to his downfall. Maleficent used the love he felt for his friends to poison Riku’s heart, planting jealousy in him as he saw Sora laughing with Donald and Goofy, and using Riku’s determination to save Kairi to lure him into doing so with the wrong methods. Everything he did was for his friends. Never once did he do anything for himself, instead sacrificing his morals, his free will, his body, everything for Kairi and Sora. And it wasn’t just that one time either. He does it constantly, diving to lows Sora and Kairi could never go to in order to do what is needed. Manipulating people, destroying people, everything that sits badly with him he does for his friends. And yet, he bears no grudges, and as painful as the things were that he had to do, he was happy that they had helped Kairi and Sora in the end. Both back in Hollow Bastion and in the World that Never Was. Even now that everything is over, Riku would do anything for Sora and Kairi’s safety, even if that something didn’t sit quite right with him. As long as it means his friends are safe and happy, he can live with the guilt.
Now, another thing that has led to Riku’s downfall time and time again is that once he sets a goal he becomes completely obsessed with it. He will pursue whatever it is he is after with such intensity that he becomes blind to everything he is doing and deaf to whatever others are telling him. He only hears and sees and knows what will help him in his goal. For example, his dream to leave the Islands and see other worlds was so intensely pursued that it caused his heart to warp. He blindly pushed after it, not even caring when his world was destroyed, instead seeing it as an opportunity to finally leave. After that he blindly pursued his goal of rescuing Kairi, sacrificing himself in order to achieve that end. Although these are the biggest examples of this trait, Riku often does this on anything and everything, just on the smallest of things it comes off as stubbornness. This can be anything from refusing to back down from a fight, refusing to let someone do something stupid, him doing something stupid, or, as it most commonly is with Sora and Kairi, his inability to let things go. If he makes up his mind to beat himself up about something, he will, until he either hears reason and stops or until someone brains him with something and he fights off his inner angst.
Now, another thing that has led to Riku’s downfall time and time again is that once he sets a goal he becomes completely obsessed with it. He will pursue whatever it is he is after with such intensity that he becomes blind to everything he is doing and deaf to whatever others are telling him. He only hears and sees and knows what will help him in his goal. For example, his dream to leave the Islands and see other worlds was so intensely pursued that it caused his heart to warp. He blindly pushed after it, not even caring when his world was destroyed, instead seeing it as an opportunity to finally leave. After that he blindly pursued his goal of rescuing Kairi, sacrificing himself in order to achieve that end. Although these are the biggest examples of this trait, Riku often does this on anything and everything, just on the smallest of things it comes off as stubbornness. This can be anything from refusing to back down from a fight, refusing to let someone do something stupid, him doing something stupid, or, as it most commonly is with Sora and Kairi, his inability to let things go. If he makes up his mind to beat himself up about something, he will, until he either hears reason and stops or until someone brains him with something and he fights off his inner angst.
Fears
Riku’s biggest fear is being alone. Its not something he broadcasts, and most of the time it doesn’t seem to bother him, but the truth of the matter is that whenever he has to deal with things on his own he gets tense and paranoid until finally he has some sort of breakdown. During his journey he was alone most of the time, forced to make decisions about an unknown world all by himself and finding ways to survive without friends to lean on. Even he didn’t realize how much it effected him until he finally met with King Mickey inside Castle Oblivion. The relief that washed over him when he realized that there was actually someone there with him, someone to share his experiences, was so overwhelming he actually fell down from the shock it had. Ever since then Riku has become aware of the unease and discomfort that grips him whenever he finds himself alone. Even the knowledge that his friends are out there, searching for him and waiting for him to come back to them does little to soothe his nerves at such times.
Another notable fear Riku has is of the darkness. As much as he assures people and himself that he no longer fears the dark force inside of him, that isn’t true. It’s a respectable fear, and even though it’s in remission at the moment, he is incredibly cautious about doing things that could possibly cause it to come back and plague him. Any dark thoughts cause that little ball inside of him to squirm and attempt to get free, and given his current location and the guilt that’s still eating at him, its only a matter of time before his fear becomes worthwhile.
Weaknesses
Riku is a total pushover. He may not act like it, and he may be a jerk about it, but the fact of the matter is that if he feels any sort of fondness for someone, he’ll become incredibly loyal. Even to people like Xion, who was someone he should have hated for keeping Sora asleep, he could feel nothing but compassion and sadness, both for what she was going through and what he would have to do. So if he finds someone - anyone really, even someone who’s a total dick to him - in distress, even if his instincts are screaming at him to run away and save himself, he’ll stay and either try and drag the person to safety, or he’ll fight whatever’s attacking them. Well, as long as he doesn’t detect darkness on them.
Riku has always known that his stubbornness and his confidence will get him in trouble some day… and in Dollsy that’s more than certain. If he sets his mind to help someone (from, say, a familiar sounding scream) he will run right into the monster’s nest in order to try and help. However, for anyone but Kairi or Sora he won’t stay and fight until his death. Even Riku has enough sense to know that if he tries to help and gets batted away like a fly, there is nothing he can do. For someone close to him however, he doesn’t care if he gets ripped apart, he’ll go anyways. But as far as his confidence goes, a lot of the time Riku just doesn’t see things like they are. He will always assume that he can do things he can’t until he’s physically proven otherwise. Eventually his luck will run out and he won’t be able to escape, but until then he’ll keep doing stupid things that will probably end badly.
Strengths/Abilities
As much as Riku’s compassion and loyalty are his downfalls, they are also his strengths. His feelings towards his friends and those he cares about push his physical strength to new heights during fights, and even allows him to endure more trauma emotionally than he would have otherwise. Also, his loyalty and devotion to his friends isn’t just one way, Riku knows for a fact that Kairi and Sora would go to similar lengths for him. And sometimes, just knowing that fact is enough to push him forward.
Again, with Riku the things that are his greatest weaknesses can also prove to be his greatest strengths. And while “stubbornness” isn’t quite considered strength, it goes hand in hand with “dedication” and “drive”. Riku is never down and out for long. He has his moments of self-hate, as do anyone, and does have to deal with a lot of guilt that he’s built up for years, but at the same time he never lets them get him down. In any situation where it seems as if he’s about to fail or there is no hope, Riku never looses that instinct-driven determination to move forward. Even when he was trapped in the darkness, not knowing if he could get out again, he refused to just lie back and give up. Even if there was no door to the light he pushed himself forward, determined to get out and go back to his life. This doesn’t mean that Riku is an optimist, always believing that things will work out, in fact he’s quite the opposite, always assuming the worst of situations. What this means is that while Riku accepts that an escape or a “good thing” won’t just happen, it doesn’t mean that he can’t stubbornly push and push until it does happen. And throughout his life, this is just what Riku has done, push his way stubbornly through bad situations, refusing to let them weigh him down for too long until finally the situation reverses itself and Riku can finally relax.